BCS championship

In addition to deciding the teams to play on the BCS Championship game, the BCS System also determines the match-ups for the other BCS Bowls, the Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and the Orange Bowl. The ten teams to play in the five bowls are selected via various methods depending on what is happening with the BCS Championship game. The champions of each of the six BCS conferences always play, and then there are four selections that are referred to as “at large selections.”

The BCS system also selects matchups for the other prestigious BCS bowl games, includign the Rose Bowl Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl. The ten teams selected include the conference champion from each of the six BCS conferences plus four others (“at-large” selections).

Since 2006–07, the BCS games primarily are shown on FOX, with just the Rose Bowl keeping its traditional place on ABC. After 2011, ESPN will begin airing four of the bowl games since it outbid Fox for the rights. ESPN will air the four bowl games. While watching it is OK, true fans know that you can’t beat a pair of Orange Bowl tickets, Fiesta Bowl tickets, Sugar Bowl tickets, Rose Bowl tickets and BCS National Championship Game tickets for true football action.

In the current BCS format, the four bowl games and the National Championship Game are considered “BCS bowl games.” Up until 2007, the four Bowls rotated hosting the BCS Championship game so each bowl would host the BCS game every four years. However in 2007 the newly created BCS National Championship Game (which for some reason is not called the BCS Bowl). The BCS Championship game pits the top two BCS ranked teams after the Bowls. The winner of this game becomes the National Champion. While there is always some controversy regarding who should be selected to play in the BCS Bowl, the BCS system is really the best we’ve got as far as a College Football National Champion. Of course, that is until we get a College Football Playoffs system of some sort in place.

The four bowl games are:

The host for the BCS Championship Game is the location that hosted the last game on Jan. 1 will host the Jan 8 event, one week after the bowl that is played after the Rose Bowl. Why this system is so ridiculous is a bit of a mystery, but that’s the way it is. There were other ideas floated about, like having cities bid for the rights to host, but in the end this system is the one that made the most sense for organizers and their corporate sponsors.

And don’t forget about the other 27 non-BCS Bowl Games.

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in theory works to give the top two teams in NCAA College Football the opportunity to play in a National Championship game and claim the title of National Champion. Because college football doesn’t currently have a playoff system, the BCA is what we’ve got, love it or hate it.

The BCS was originally developed by the six major conferences and excluded teams not in those conferences. It has since been grown to include teams from other conferences, however the six are still arguably favored by the system. What is interesting about the BCS is that the NCAA does not formally recognize the winner as the National Champion. The current system has been in place since 1998, although there have been some tweaks here and there. These changes usually occur to address a controversy the year before.

Selection of BCS teams

There is actually some method to the madness of the BCS System, although it can sometimes be difficult to comprehend. There are some conferences whose champion is automatically entered into a bowl game as long as their BCS ranking is not terrible. Of course, the top two teams in BCS rankings get automatic berths into the BCS Game. While the rankings is a bit unclear, the fact is that the top two ranked teams will play in the BCS Championship. Usually, the champions from the BCS conference (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10, and SEC) are guaranteed to be in a BCS bowl game (not necessarily the BCS Championship game).

Champions from non-BCS conferences receive automatic berths IF, they are in the top 12 ranked teams or in the top 16 and higher than another BCS Conference champ. The independent Notre Dame automatically gets a berth if it finishes in the top eight. You can’t have more than two teams from any conference in any BCS games. The #3 ranked team will get a berth if it is in a BCS Conference and has not already gotten a bid. In the case the third team was already assured a spot in a bowl game, then the fourth ranked team gets in, if it in a BCS conference that is.

These conditions determine who gets the “automatic bids.” The remaining “at large” berths come from the top 14 teams that have a minimum of nine wins. What is interesting here is that the individual bowl committees decide which teams actually play in their bowl. If 10 teams haven’t yet been reached, then any at-large team that is bowl eligible, has won a minimum of nine games and is in the top 18 in the BCS rankings, and then if there are still not 10 eligible teams the selection pool will be expanded till there are ten teams eligible.

This system was criticized because it still make it difficult for non-BCS team to play in the BCS Championship game as well as the BCS Bowl games. By adding the BCS game, organizers believe that non-BCS team will have better access to the BCS Bowl and could get in ahead of BCS-conference team that are ranked higher.

Conference Bowl affiliations

Each conference has a Bowl they are traditionally tied to. The conference champion plays in that bowl unless the team is selected for the BCS Championship game. Traditionally:

  • The Rose Bowl sees the champs from the Big Ten and the Pac-10 square off
  • The Fiesta Bowl hosts the Big 12 champ,
  • The Orange Bowl hosts the ACC champ and
  • The Sugar Bowl sees the SEC champ.
  • The Champion from the Big East gets one of the remaining at-large berths.

BCS Rankings

We all know that the BCS Ranking system isn’t perfect, and even with human and computers polls, there are always going to be teams and their fans that feel like they didn’t get a fair shake. Both the human polls and the computer polls have their share of critics, and the BCS rankings, because they determine Bowl eligibility, is probably the most criticized aspect of the BCS system. That is also what most critics point to when they argue for a college football playoff system.

Another fact that makes accurate ranking difficult is that BCS team play very few games against other BCS team that are in different conferences.

BCS Support

There are plenty of people who support the BCS ranking system. One aspect that supporters cite is that the BCS rankings help to ensure that teams play their hardest each game. In the BCS rankings, a single loss can be very detrimental to a team’s ranking. Proponents argue that if teams know they are going to make the college football playoffs regardless, they would rest their starters at the end of the season, because a loss would still let them play in the playoffs.

According to a 1997 legally binding contract, the BCS: “…is managed by the commissioners of the 11 NCAA Division I-A conferences, the director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame, and representatives of the bowl organizations.. . [t]he BCS is defined as a five-game arrangement for post-season college football that is designed to match the two top-rated teams in a national championship game and to create exciting and competitive matchups between eight other highly regarded teams in four other games”. The contract means that all the teams that signed the contract have to abide by the BCS rankings and can’t argue the teams selected.